A ceramic electronic component related to the present invention is, for example, a component described in JP 11-219849 A (Patent Document 1).
This ceramic electronic component has a ceramic base body in a rectangular parallelepiped form, a plurality of internal electrodes arranged inside the ceramic base body to be opposed to each other across a ceramic layer, and a pair of external electrodes each formed on an end face of the ceramic base body to be electrically connected to predetermined one of the internal electrodes.
The external electrodes each have an underlying electrode formed by firing a conductive paste containing a metal powder, a glass powder, an organic binder and an organic solvent, and an overlying electrode formed on this underlying electrode and obtained by setting a conductive paste containing a metal powder, a thermosetting resin and an organic solvent thermally. The external electrodes are formed to be extended from the respective end faces of the body of the component around respective partial regions of the side faces thereof.
It is stated that about each of the external electrodes in this ceramic electronic component, its overlying electrode covers the whole of its underlying electrode and further the overlying electrode is extended over the circumference of the underlying electrode up to the side faces of the ceramic base body. According to Patent Document 1, it is preferred that the overlying electrode is extended from the circumference of the underlying electrode by a length of 0.05 mm or more. This is for a purpose that when an excessive stress is applied from the outside to the external electrode, this stress is absorbed in the overlying electrode to prevent a crack or other damages to be generated in the outer circumference of end regions of the body of the component. It is stated that if the length of the overlying-electrode-portion over the circumference is less than 0.05 mm, the damages such as the crack become remarkable.
JP 2008-71926 A (Patent Document 2) discloses a ceramic electronic component including a ceramic base body (component body) in a rectangular parallelepiped form, which is made of a ceramic material; an internal electrode formed inside the ceramic base body; and an external electrode formed to be extended from an end face of the ceramic base body around a side face thereof, and to be electrically connected to the internal electrode; in which the external electrode has an underlying electrode formed by firing a conductive paste containing a metal powder, a glass powder, an organic binder and an organic solvent, and an overlying electrode that is a resin electrode positioned over the underlying electrode, the overlying electrode that is a resin electrode is formed in the rear of the tip portion of the underlying electrode, and the overlying electrode is formed not to cover the whole of the underlying electrode.    Patent Document 1: JP 11-219849 A    Patent Document 2: JP 2008-71926 A